Peter Cragg and Flavia Fucassi
Supramolecular chemistry has been defined as “chemistry beyond the molecule” and is concerned with complex molecular interactions. Through the study of these phenomena we hope to design molecules capable of very specific functions. The principle has been applied to the molecular recognition of cations and anions so that the compounds can be used as sensors. Examples include ‘host’ compounds that luminesce in response to particular ‘guests’ or change their electronic properties in response to anions. Our work on the synthesis of molecular hosts and their recognition properties has been published in several RSC journals and the Journal of Organic Chemistry. It has also found its way into the mainstream through the publication of review articles and a textbook, A Practical Guide to Supramolecular Chemistry, published in 2005.
We are also interested in predicting supramolecular behaviour using computer models. Work funded by the EPSRC has given us a much better idea of the limits of this technique and led to valuable computational protocols. The results have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Chemical Communications and Supramolecular Chemistry
